On a batting surface at Kanpur, Kane Williamson opted to bowl first since no one was sure what’s a good score on such a wicket. He had the new ball bowlers who could do justice to it against the famed Indian batting, picking early wickets irrespective of the surface. And when Tim Southee got rid of Shikhar Dhawan for 14 it seemed like they’d once again break deep into the line-up. But Rohit Sharma having struggled thus far in the series was going to make it count this time.

He found a complementing partner in Virat Kohli. The duo didn’t let the New Zealanders dictate terms and rather had fun batting on a pitch that allowed the ball to come onto the bat nicely. The bounce was true and the batsmen could hit across the line. Their partnership flourished after the second line of bowlers were in the attack. None of them could threaten the duo and Rohit soon got to his fifty. He continued to punish the balls that were in his zone and even the good ones.

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This allowed Virat to play his natural game as well and avoid shots that had triggered his downfall. He hit the ball around the park and made the Kiwis toil hard on the field. Rohit kept going and brought up his 15th ODI hundred. He continued getting his grip stronger on the game being someone who has the knack of playing the big knocks.

Just when it looked like Rohit would get yet another 150+ score he holed out in the deep off Mitchell Santner for 147. Meanwhile, the skipper also touched triple figures to register his 32nd ODI hundred and the 10th as the skipper of the team. Hardik Pandya was promoted at 4 but couldn’t do much and was out caught as well. MS Dhoni then joined Kohli and played a stroke-filled knock he eventually scored 25 from 17 balls and with the help of Kedar Jadhav’s 18 Team India posted 337/6 in 50 overs.

For the Black Caps Santner was the pick of the bowlers ending his ten overs with 2/58. Trent Boult had a forgettable game as he was plundered for 81 runs in his 10 overs; his most expensive outing ever. Southee and Adam Milne also picked a couple of wickets each but had economies over 6.

Twitterati enjoyed the Indian batting and here are some of the best reactions:

Rohit Sharma now has a century in every One Day International series he has played this year, i.e. #CT17, #INDvSL, #INDvAUS and now #INDvNZ